


The Reformation of Loki Laufeyson

by equals_eleven_thirds



Category: The Avengers (2012), Thor (2011)
Genre: Gen, Magic, Odin is a jerk, Thor just wants to be a good brother, forced goodness, sorry about this Loki
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-05-30
Updated: 2012-06-12
Packaged: 2017-11-06 06:41:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/415909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/equals_eleven_thirds/pseuds/equals_eleven_thirds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All Thor wanted was his brother back. He would have given anything he had. In fact, he did.</p><p>It really wasn't his fault he didn't exactly understand how the spell worked.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So this is totally based on [this post](http://astolat.tumblr.com/post/23487017177/crisis-x-because-misunderstood-good-guy-loki), although I’m changing up some bits and apparently adding a decent plot. Whoa. Me doing plot, what an idea.
> 
> I’ve also added in more Norse mythology than Marvel necessarily deals with. Because it’s fun.

"Loki Laufeyson," Odin intoned. (Loki carefully did not flinch at the name.) "You betrayed Asgard. You brought war, discord, and destruction among us. You sought to usurp the throne from the rightful king. You turned on your own family—"

Loki rolled his eyes, heaving a dramatic sigh. "Yes, yes, I  _know_. Can we get on with it?"

"You allied with the Chitauri," Odin continued, ignoring him. "You attacked Earth, an ally of Asgard—and one under Thor's protection. You slaughtered and enchanted the humans there, beings weaker and less advanced than Asgardians, and with whom we have no quarrel."

"That might actually matter to me if I were an Asgardian."

"For these crimes, Loki, you have been sentenced to—"

**"STOP!"**

The yell was loud enough, but it was accompanied by a crack of thunder which reverberated through the throne room.

Thor strode into the room, swinging his hammer. "Father, I have come to ransom Loki."

"You cannot ransom him." The Allfather stared hard at his son. "What do you have of sufficient worth to balance his crimes?"

In answer, Thor lifted his hammer, holding the shining weapon above his head for a brief moment, before slamming it into the ground at Odin's feet.

Odin gazed at the hammer in disbelief before turning his one good eye back to Thor. "My son, you would truly do this? For a man who is not even your brother?"

"He is my brother in every way that matters," Thor answered solemnly. "And thus I would."

Loki suddenly found that he couldn't speak. He wanted to—to mock Thor's sentiment, or call him a fool, or—or—

But he couldn't. There was a lump in his throat, as effective a gag as the contraption the humans had tied over his mouth before sending him back to Asgard.

"I offer my hammer, mighty Mjölnir, to the gods of Asgard," Thor proclaimed, his voice loud enough for everyone to hear, "and those things necessary to wield it. In addition, I take responsibility for Loki, once Odinson, now Laufeyson, yet still my own brother. Any crimes he commits from this day forward shall be on my shoulders."

Whispers spread through the crowd of Asgardians. Was he mad, to do this? After everything Loki had done, did Thor truly believe he would stop the malevolence and destruction?

And all of the sins from that day on would weigh on Thor himself.

"If you do this," Odin began, "you will be banished from Asgard. You cannot cheat justice, my son, and we shall not accept Loki here."

Thor nodded. "I expected as much. Then we shall be banished together."

"So be it." Odin stood, voice booming out over the gods. "Know this day that Thor Odinson and Loki Laufeyson are banished. The hammer Mjölnir has been offered and accepted as forfeit for their lives. But should they return to Asgard again, they shall face death, for Loki's crimes shall be Thor's crimes as well."

Thor bowed his head in deferment to his king. "Be well, my father." His eyes flickered to Frigga. "And my mother."

Backing away from the throne—and tugging Loki with him—he pulled out an iron belt and iron gloves, holding them out for the other gods to see. "The belt Megingjörð and the gloves Járngreipr, those necessary items needed so that mighty Mjölnir may be wielded by one other than I. These also I offer as ransom for Loki. And," he took another step, closer to the crowd this time, "I present them to the goddess Freyja."

Smiling beatifically, the golden-haired goddess stepped forward and took the belt and gloves with gentle hands. "I thank thee, Thor," she said. "And, with this complete, our bargain is sealed."

Thor bowed to her. "You have my gratitude, Freyja."

With that, he turned and ran, pulling Loki along with him, away from the (temporarily) stunned hall of the gods.

\----

"You're mad," Loki gasped as Thor yanked him to the transport pad. "Utterly mad. You—you gave up Mjölnir, and to  _Freyja_?" He panted, too out of breath to laugh. "By the Norns, Thor, that was a prank worthy of me."

"I did think you might enjoy it," Thor said, grinning. "It was a necessary part of my plan, but it was quite amusing."

Loki's near-laughter faded as he caught a particular word. "Your plan? What plan?"

"It does pain me to do this," Thor said regretfully. "Nevertheless, my brother, remember that all I do is for your good."

And then a fist swung toward his head, and everything went dark.

\----

_Considerably earlier:_

"You brought him back to Asgard hoping for—what? Mercy? Familial love? Some kind of hug therapy?"

Thor stared gloomily into his mug of mead. "I thought... I don't know what I thought."

Freyja shrugged, sliding her hair back over her shoulder. "You're far too optimistic, Thor. Your love for your family blinds you to everything else."

"My father will surely kill him."

"Well, yes. He has killed people, brought terrible wars in his wake, and tried to destroy planets."

"But he is my brother." Thor sighed, setting his mug down. "In spite of what he has done, still I feel within my heart that he could return to the boy he once was."

"Life changes all of us," Freyja said. "Nothing in all the worlds can undo that which our fate has wrought."

"I just want to make him  _good_."

The goddess considered for a moment. "Well, perhaps there _is_ something to accomplish that."

"I...what?"

Freyja dimpled at him. "There are spells to, shall we say, bring out the goodness in an individual? I may have such a spell on hand."

"You do?"

"Mm. There is the matter of payment, of course."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (aka more mythology than any of you people would want):
> 
> Mjölnir, as I’m sure most of you know, is Thor’s hammer. Only Thor can wield it.
> 
>  _Megingjörð_ and _Járngreipr_ are, respectively, a belt and pair of gloves (or gauntlets) of strength. In the mythology, Thor himself needs them to heft Mjölnir. Since this doesn’t seem to be the case in Marvel’s ‘verse, I adjusted them so they’d merely allow other people to use the hammer. (Which, incidentally, they also do in the mythology. …to an extent, at least.)
> 
> Freyja is the goddess of youth, beauty, fertility, and war. She is also associated with the _seiðr_ , or the Norse power of witchcraft. She is often confused with Frigga, Odin’s wife, but is actually an entirely separate entity. Freyja is also a member of the Vanir, a different group of gods than the Æsir, who were led by Odin. The Vanir and Æsir were once at war with each other, but eventually the Vanir became merely a subset of the Æsir.


	2. Chapter 1

“…completely nuts,” a voice was saying somewhere to his left. It was slightly familiar. Hm… _annoying,_ that was the word connected to it. Someone irritating was speaking.

“There are no nuts or other foods involved.” Ah. That one was his brother.

“Brush up on your idioms, would you? I mean it’s crazy. Bonkers. Loony. Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.”

“What are Cocoa—”

“Look, just—it’s insane, all right?”

“It is not insane. It was the wisest course I was able to find.”

“The wisest—” The voice of the annoyance broke off into offended sputtering.

“He’s right, Thor,” another voice, gravelly and slow, said. “This isn’t really what anyone would consider wise.”

“The spell came from Freyja herself. She is a master of _seiðr_ and a goddess of her word. And I had no other choice; my fa—Odin would have killed him.”

Freyja _. Seiðr._ Odin.

Loki jerked upright, eyes shooting wide. He saw Thor spin to look at him, and the two others—Stark and Banner—turned as well.

Stark and Banner? Was he on _Earth?_

“Thor,” he said. “What have you done?”

His brother looked concerned. “Do you not remember? About the trial, and Mjölnir, and our exile? I didn’t think I hit you that hard.”

“You didn’t think you hit me that hard?” Loki snarled. “Is that so, you ham-handed oaf? You knocked me into unconsciousness, and you didn’t think you hit me that hard?”

…or, he tried to snarl.

What came out instead was a calm tone and very different words. “I haven’t forgotten; your blow was not too strong. I was wondering what happened afterwards, and why you felt the need to strike me at all.”

His lips closed on the last syllable and he stared downwards, trying to see his own mouth. Had he actually said that?

Stark and Banner seemed to be in similar states of shock, but Thor was beaming at him.

“I rejoice in your health, then! Brother, I do apologize for my violence to you, but my need was great. I could not administer the spell with you conscious, and I could not take you to Earth without the spell.”

Loki surged up and forward, ready to strike Thor—partly in revenge, he had to admit—and escape. Saving him from Odin’s vengeance would be Thor’s last mistake. He reached out, considering the angles of the walls and the potential weapons around. Pity he didn’t have any weapons of his own, but the nearby steel table would serve.

To his horror, he found that his arms—with no weapons at all, makeshift or otherwise—were wrapped around Thor in a friendly embrace.

Now Thor was nearly weeping. “How I have missed you, brother! Though it cost me  dearly, the spell was truly worthwhile.”

Spell. He kept mentioning a spell. Of course, that would explain the strange behavior. “What. Spell?” he bit out. This time, the words came out the way he intended, although his hand had started patting Thor’s shoulder of its own volition.

If anything, Thor’s smile brightened. “I requested aid from Freyja to help save you, Loki. In return for  Mjölnir, she wrought a spell to bring out the goodness I knew was in you, shrouded in bitterness as it might have been. You are a new man, my brother, and together we shall find peace in this realm.”

Loki gaped at him. A spell. A spell from Freyja, forcing him to say words he didn’t mean, do things he didn’t want. A spell of—if the little sense Thor was making meant anything— _goodness._

Shit.

\----

“Okay. Fine. I get it. You love your brother, blah blah blah, and you pawned your hammer off to some witch or goddess or whatever for a… _spell._ ” He drew out the word with distaste. “And then you ran off to Earth because Odin doesn’t want him. Not that I blame him,” he added in a mutter.

“All of these things are correct,” Thor said, nodding. “I am glad you understand, man of iron.”

“I’ve got a name, you—never mind. What I _don’t_ get, ‘god of thunder’, is why you brought him _here._ ”

“As I told you, Earth is the only—”

“Not Earth-here, _here_ -here.” Tony scowled and waved a hand around vaguely. “You know, Stark Tower here? My _house_ here? I-live-here-here?”

Thor cleared his throat, actually looking slightly uncomfortable. “Right. Yes. Of course. Here.”

“Yeah, here. And…?”

The ancient and mighty Asgardian god of thunder may possibly have fidgeted a bit. “You may know already that I have but few comrades here. Earth here,” he clarified. “My options were limited. I could not rely on Jane, who while extraordinary does not have the resources necessary to care for my brother—and, if the spell didn’t work, subdue him. As for SHIELD, I…” He sighed heavily. “I do not… trust them. Not fully. Not with Loki’s safety.”

Tony dipped his head in agreement. “Okay, I can see how you’d think that. Hell, I wouldn’t trust SHIELD to take care of a pet dog, let alone anyone I actually care about.”

“You speak the truth, Stark. And so, of all my comrades, I thought it most prudent to turn to you. My eternal gratitude is yours for answering my plea for aid.”

“Fine, all right, you’re welcome. Just don’t make it a habit or anything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, a few things.
> 
>  
> 
> First: I did not do it on purpose. I didn't. It just happened. It was an accident. It's a remarkable coincidence that it's on this fic about Loki being forced to do things, but, ah. I noticed after posting the first chapter that the initials of this fic are tRoLL. Totally not my fault and I'm really really sorry.
> 
>  
> 
> Second: I'm referring to Earth as Earth. Yes, redundant-sounding, I know. But this actually has to do with what Loki and Thor (and the other Asgardians) call it. Technically, it ought to be Midgard. But I watched the movies and they call it Earth a lot. Sometimes they call it Midgard, but it's easier for me to stick to one name, or I lose track. So Earth it is.
> 
>  
> 
> Third: Er... I noticed some ambiguous wording in my endnotes last time. To clarify, the   
> Æsir are led by Odin, and are the dominant gods. The Vanir include Freyja and her brother Freyr. I... don't know who they're led by.


End file.
